McTiernan Officialy Announces that she will seek a second term

Buffalo, NY--Erin McTiernan, NYCRSC Chairwoman, officially announced on St. Patrick's Day that she would be seeking a second term to lead the New York College Republican State Committee, Inc. She was joined by the Erie County Republican Chairman, the Niagara County Republican Women Chairwoman, Chautauqua County Executive, and a few dozen College Republicans representing chapters from Buffalo to Albany.

Below is a photo following the announcement event, the agenda of speakers, the full text of Dan Aikin's speech (candidate for Co-Chairman), and Chairwoman McTiernan's announcement speech.

MCTIERNAN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCMENT
AGENDA OF SPEAKERS
SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2007
STATLER TOWERS, BUFFALO, NY

Erie County Chairman James Domagalski--welcomed everyone to Erie County, spoke about Erin, and fully endorsed the McTiernan/Aikin Ticket

Niagara County Women's Republican Chair--spoke about her experience working with Erin, talked about the importance of the College Republicans, and fully endorsed McTiernan on behalf of Niagara County.

County Executive Greg Edwards--spoke about the energy that Erin and the College Republicans brought to his campaign , that they had the largest part in the accomplishment of taking out an 8 year incumbant, spoke about how impressed he was by the accomplishments of the College Republicans under the leadership of McTiernan, fully endorsed the McTiernan/Aikin Ticket.

Candidate for Co-Chairman Dan Aikin--please see video or read text of speech below.

NYCRSC Chairwoman Erin McTiernan--please see video or read text of speech below.

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FULL TEXT OF AIKIN SPEECH

Good Afternoon.

It is great to see so many College Republicans present on this momentous occasion. Look at the people around you- Syracuse CRs, Canisius CRs, Brockport CRs, St. Bonaventure CRs, Fredonia CRs. From New York City to Syracuse, Buffalo to Rochester, Upstate New York to the Southern Tier, the State of the New York College Republicans is strong. There is no infighting or division in this state; there are only unified New York College Republicans motivated by one cause- the Republican Party.

I joined the Canisius College Republicans early in my college career. I attended the Conservatice Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. and the New York State Convention in Rochester. Since then, this organization has been my passion because of the people. The New York College Republicans I have met over the years are the most dedicated people to stand behind a worthy cause.

But first, let me share some of my experiences at Canisius College as Vice-President. When I was a freshman, our chapter lacked funding, its membership was dwindling, and our college administration was uncooperative with our events. Over the past year, I have restored our chapter to the Republican movement it once was.

This year, we passed our largest budget ever of over $13,000. These financial resources have allowed us to attend a Sabres game, CPAC, and the State Convention at a reduced price. We’ve given back to our members; joining the College Republicans at Canisius is not a financial burden, it is a reward.

In 2002, the College Administration prevented us from placing 3,000 flags on campus for the one year remembrance of September 11th. Last summer, our Executive Board met with members of the administration. We asked questions, pressed for answers, and made it difficult for the administration to say NO. Since then, our club has held an Animal Rights BBQ and a 2nd Amendment Appreciation Day. Our club is relaying the Republican message on campus and students are listening.

Our membership is strong. It has grown from six to over thirty active members in less than two semesters. Our attendance at regular meetings is twenty-five members. Students are proud to be Republicans on campus again.

Our team made these successes possible. Our Executive Board members, such as Andy Kowaleski and Ross Kostecky, invited new members to the club. These successes were made possible by our members too. Adam Dotzler, Jen Hood, and Bill Golba rose early every Saturday to walk door to door to re-elect Congressman Tom Reynolds. I’d like to thank the Canisius College Republicans for their continued support.

As your Western Vice-Chairman, with the help of John McGrath, we have fostered greater communication in the region. John and I intend to travel to chapters in the West over the next month. We’ve already begun planning a regional fundraiser in the near future. More importantly, the region is growing. Together, we are working on local community colleges in the region.

Yes, the New York College Republicans have achieved many accomplishments this year, but we can do better. Our organization's brightest future will be shaped by leaders who truly care about it. The McTiernan ticket is that bright future. That is why I am running for Co-Chairman of the New York College Republican State Committee. As your Co-Chairman, I will: serve every College Republican in New York, help build new chapters across all regions, work together with Regional Vice-Chairs, County GOP Chairman, and local elected officials to win campaigns, and raise the financial resources our organization needs to be successful.

These are not my goals; instead, they are the goals of our Party. Next Saturday, Erin and I will announce our plan to take New York to the Next Level at Pace University. The greatest opportunities for this organization are in the near future.

This great opportunity presents an important question to this organization: Who will continue to grow college chapters, lead us to election victories, and make every college student proud to be a member of the New York College Republicans? The answer is clear – The McTiernan/Aikin Ticket. Ladies and gentlemen, your Chairwoman, Erin McTiernan.

Thank you.

FULL TEXT OF MCTIERNAN SPEECH


Elected Officials, Party Leaders, and Fellow College Republicans:

I want to first thank everyone for coming out today. I know the last place some of you would like to be today is sitting here, especially on Saint Patrick’s Day and also with the NCAA Basketball game getting ready to begin down the street. However, being 100% Irish I could not think of a better day for this event and the events that will follow this evening. Thanks again for coming out today.

Over the past year the New York College Republicans have accomplished what seemed to once be impossible-we united. The division that once hurt this organization is gone and with that, this past year has been a time of great changes and success for the College Republicans of New York State.

We turned out hundreds of volunteers for campaigns all over the state, at all levels of government. In particular, the NYCRs made large contributions to the successful re-election of Congressman Jim Walsh, Congressman Tom Reynolds, Congressman Peter King, Assemblyman Mike Cole, Assemblyman Giglio, and many other elected officials.

Chapters from around the Capital region, including St. Rose, Siena, Adirondack Community College, and SUNY Albany worked effortlessly on the Sweeney campaign. Despite the loss, the College Republicans learned how important grassroots efforts are on any campaign and developed critical knowledge for future campaigns.

Within the Central Region, the Syracuse and Cortland CRs went door-to-door for Congressman Walsh, Congressional candidate Ray Meier, and Assemblyman Jeff Brown.
Over 40 College Republicans from Fredonia, St. Bonaventure, University at Buffalo, University of Rochester, Nazareth, and Brockport spent the weekend before Election Day rallying for New York State Comptroller candidate, Chris Callaghan. Someone that I grew to really admire as one of the hardest working candidates that I have ever seen. The New York College Republicans organized one of the biggest literature drops for the Callaghan campaign, encompassing Chautauqua and Erie Counties. Through their dedicated efforts, Callghan won Chautauqua County and did better than any statewide candidate in Erie County.

The election cycle of 2006 proved to be one of the toughest cycles Republicans have seen in quite some time, especially here in New York. However, this did not crush the energy of the New York College Republicans. We also had one of the largest delegations ever to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC (CPAC.) Our delegation had over 100 College Republicans, making us close if not the largest delegation in the country. There was something unique about our delegation this year, and I think the Rhode Island College Republican State Chairman put it best when he told me. “You have one of the largest and craziest federations in the country, but I have never seen a federation so close as yours.” A year ago at CPAC we were a clearly divided federation, this year we shined as an example for all states to see how close we have grown, not only as an organization but also as friends. Not only are we the premiere statewide grass roots organization, we are finally a statewide network of close friendships, laughs, and countless memories.

We have also held fundraising events such as the NYCRSC First Annual “Steamrolling” Cocktail Reception in Albany in recognition of insane Governor.

While the New York College Republicans have accomplished many great things this year, there is still more work to be done. That is why today, I formally announce my candidacy for reelection.

As Chair, I plan to take the NY College Republicans to the next level. Over the next year I have an aggressive plan for the College Republicans. It is going to take a lot of hard work, but the benefits will be well worth it. It seems that over the last year the harder we worked to better our organization, the more fun we ended up having.

From the day I get reelected until the polls close at 9pm on Election Night my focus will be doing everything possible as the premiere grass roots organization to get our local candidates elected. The only way to do that is to take our organization to the next level. This is going to take more than rallying our grassroots; it is going to take a serious expansion of our organization across New York, strengthening of our regions, building those important relationships between the County Chairman and the local College Republican chapters, it is going to take the implementation of our communications and technology plan, education and leadership training schools around the state, an intense focus on fundraising so we can become self-sufficient when proving our resources to campaigns, and of course a lot of devoting and passion for the Republican Party. We have the opportunity as a party to rebuild our “farm team” of local candidates in 2007 so that we can become a stronger force in the 2008 New York State races.
Next Saturday, at Pace University, in New York City I will be officially unveiling my plan to take the College Republicans to new heights.

Although he couldn’t be here today, I want to thank Frank Guidice for all the support he has given to me from the very beginning. I would also like to thank my fiancé and best friend, Eric Amidon. The wealth of ideas that you bring to this organization are greatly appreciated and I can’t thank you enough.

I also want to say thank you to the individual chapters that I have worked with this past year. If it wasn’t for the hard work and tremendous effort you guys put in, the NYCRSC would never have accomplished the great things that we did this past year.